Ferrets

I used to get my rats to swim sometimes - but I'm not sure if they enjoyed it

...I'm trying not to watch the utube of 'how to bathe pet rats'...how long do weasels live for I wonder? Crikey; just read that they can live for 10 years. Lots more 'adventures of Ozzy' to look forward to, then!

Oh dear, DD is now hooked on Ozzy

Well he's only a baby

I did keep counting how many fingers Ozzy's owner had and was surprised that he still seemed to have 5.

Oh Tegan those lovely rats! I haven't had a rat for years now, DS had two that lived in a drawer in his bedroom (Not the sort of thing the girlfriend would allow now!) And Ozzy the weasel is just gorgeous - I'm going to waste so much time watching the videos!
Our cats managed to bring a live weasel in once. It didn't seem to be injured, but died after about half an hour. It was a beautiful little animal

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A07gDVLe14
..and the pet I'd love to have one day...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2CTVqt2wxU
......although there are exceptions....

The cat brought one into the house [I knew it was a weasel cause I could smell it]. It was inside a roll of carpet that was in the living room [not sure why it was there but there was probably yet another bit of decorating being done]. I tipped it into a bucket and trudged across a nearby field to release it. Instead of scamering away into the undergrowth [as I expected] it ran straight at me and all but ran up inside my trouser leg . It was a very angry little creature, it's anger making it look ten times bigger than it was. Would hate to be anything that it predates on. Scary! All creatures of that ilk appear to be incredibly well designed predators.

AKA I was unaware we were arguing, I presumed we were having an adult conversation/debate about our differing opinions on ferrets. I apologise if you felt it was an argument.

Totally agree Tegan re the Minks, the hearts of their rescuers were in the right place but they really didn't process their thoughts very well or they would have known what the outcome would be. The same goes for those who freed the boars a few years ago. Full of good intentions but not properly assessing the outcomes.

I'm interested in your "experience" of weasel. I have only ever saw one, which was when I worked in an animal rescue centre and was shocked as to how tiny they were. I always thought they were same size as stoats/pine martens/ferrets until then.

This has made me think of the problems caused by the well meaning but misguided people who set free all those mink from mink farms years ago, and the impact it has had on indigenous wildlife since . I can totally understand Aka's dislike of ferrets after what must have been an incredibly upsetting experience. At the same time I was entranced one day watching either a stoat or a pine marten in our garden one day, dragging some roadkill back to it's home; it's probably their likeness to otters that makes them so entrancing. However, having had an 'experience' with a weasel once I'm well aware of how savage creatures of the genre can be. Then again, I'm terrified of rabbits .

smiter1955 I hope you enjoy your ferrets.

Ferrets have been pets for a long time I think. One of my favourite paintings is Lady with Ermine by da Vinci (painted around 1490) but it is thought the ermine is actually a ferret.

Aka I can understand how upsetting it was when a ferret killed your chickens. A fox has started coming into my garden and I think it must be after my elderly pet rabbit. So now Basil can't run around the garden like he used to and is often confined to his hutch.

I don't blame the fox though which is only behaving as its maker intended.

I will bow to your superior knowledge of cats smiter as I can't be arsed to argue with you any more.

Cats kill birds and chickens are birds, one of the farm cats got into chickens when I was a kid and it got a few.

Anyway you have your reasons for hating the critters, I have mine for loving them.

I can't wait till weekend to get ours, they are gonna love their new home. Lots of ladders and platforms for them as well as plenty snuggly places for them to curl up in.

Cats don't kill chickens. Mine free range at the bottom of the garden and neighbouring cats don't bother them. Foxes are a different matter and they are shut away very security every night.

In this instance I'd let them out before going to work and this b****y ferret, which had escaped the previous night ran rampage while I was away. Dead chickens everywhere, others with bites to the back of their necks, heads almost off, blood and feathers all around. It was heartbreaking.

Happily the lad who owned the ferret was equally upset and got rid of the blasted thing. Yes, they can appear cuddly and sweet with humans when properly reared and handled but they are vicious killers of chickens, rabbits, etc.

We looked after a pair of ferrets for a friend and they were lovely - so funny! When we moved house we found all the old chicken bones they'd stashed under our big bookcase

We once found a ferret running down the road when we lived in Cornwall. DH stopped the car and picked it up and plonked it on my lap. I wondered whether cuddling a strange ferret was such a good idea, but it curled up under my chin and was so friendly! We found out that it belonged to a little boy and was very used to being played with.

cats kill for fun, and dogs are actually natural killers too. Both wild animals that have been domesticated and kept as pets for years. I understand people being against ferrets, they aren't a first choice as pets. However rats, mice and hamsters all natural vermin are accepted as pets so why not ferrets, who by the way will keep down any risk of rats or mice on your property.

Can I ask how you the ferret got into your chickens? I presume you put them in a secure pen overnight to protect them from cats and foxes?

Tell that to my dead and mutilated chickens smiter and that's my point anyway. Nasty creatures with an instinct to kill just for fun. I agree with Papaoscar. I can understand it when they were a necessity in bygone days when they could hunt and add to the food supply but nowadays?????

smiter good luck with the lead - Noodle hates his and goes into a death roll!

As for the killing chickens, that's awful but as you say, very irresponsible of the pet owners to let it escape.

Ferrets have been domesticated for over two thousand years and make lovely pets. Cats are natural born killers too - mine has brought many a sorry looking corpse to the doormat over the years, but surely nobody would suggest that you shouldn't keep a cat as a pet?

Each to their own, I guess.

Ferrets are instinctive, natural killers. Why anybody would want one as a domestic pet is beyond me.

sorry to hear about the chickens however that wasn't the animal's fault it was doing what is nature to them and the blame lays fully with the humans. It was their responsibility to make sure the animals were secure.

Hate the creatures. Where we lived previously next door's ferret escaped one night and killed most of my hens and savaged the rest so badly I had to put them out of their misery. All for the fun of killing.

yes I believe they take to harness walking quite well. I think I will probably try it out. I also hope to get a bag. I've seen them before for ferrets, it's like a tote bag, fleecy lined and a short lead and clip inside so they can't jump out. Would love to see the reaction going shopping with a ferret in a bag, never seen a sign saying "No Ferrets" lol.

There was an old chap who lived by my daughters primary school that used to walk his ferret on a lead [I say old; he was probably younger than I am now].

well done on giving them some love in their wee lives. Its a shame that working animals don't get the loving that pets do. These guys may be going to live in an outside enclosure but we will go into that and give them attention and when the other pets are safely out of the way they will get to have a bit of play in the house.